Tanya Van Blake-Coleman

On 10/22/11 the Virgin Islands Territorial Association of Realtors (VITAR) had our annual meeting aboard the Discovery, a glass bottom boat, as we sailed around St. John and some of the smaller islands in the Territory. It bought together members of the St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. John boards, and Gov. John deJongh.

Regional Vice President Cynthia Shelton, swore in our VITAR officers for 2012. I will move from the President of the local board of St. Thomas to the President-elect of VITAR in 2012.

Governor deJongh spoke on how the financial turmoil is effecting the region and the importance of promoting small businesses in the territory. In addition, his goals include keeping the police department properly staffed; making education a priority and not cutting back any further on teachers but moving them to the schools that most need them; and promoting the availability of good health care in the territory.

While Stephanie Hodge of Blue Sky Real Estate on St. Croix has completed her legislative interview and was officially appointed to the Real Estate Commission, the challenge continues to appoint a fully functioning Real Estate Commission. The commission will need to address the lack of a licensing testing center in the territory. The governor committed to a goal of having the latter issue addressed by January of 2012.

President B.J. Harris was officially awarded, Realtor of the Year, Among her many accomplishments this year are obtaining the Ira Gribins grant for the territory. This is a revolving, low interest fund to assist first time home buyers with closing costs. Two, buyers on St. John have already taken advantage of this assistance. Classes were made available to members on all three islands on agency issues and social media with more scheduled later this year and early next year. The idea for this wonderful meeting was also BJ's brain child.

The event was catered by Passion Fruit Chef. They served a selection of fruits, brie, wraps, pasta salad and wonderful cookies, accompanied by lemon grass iced tea, fruit punch.

Sponsors for the meeting included Theodor Tunick Insurance, Pyles Publishing, and ProSolar Investments. Thank you!

Most people are not familiar with how much Realtors work. It is normally very long days and pretty much seven days a week. I don't know many places that host their annual meetings aboard glass bottom boats in the Caribbean, it helps to ease the stress some. The perfect place to reflect on the year so far and anticipate the next. A perfect combination of business and pleasure.

One of the things that irritates me about living in the U.S. Virgin Islands, specifically on St. Thomas, is the mass media tends to ignore us when it comes to the coverage of potential storms. We are a small group of islands with a combined population of less then 150,000 people.

With storms that may effect us, the major weather services always project the path of storms as they will hit Florida and the Eastern sea board of the mainland, often that path is close to or directly over the U.S. Virgin Islands. Puerto Rico may get an honorable mention but we rarely do. You learn very quickly which specks we are on the map and your antenna quickly goes up.

Fortunately we have VITEMA, The Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency. If you subscribe to their alerts, you can be kept up to date on developments via your cell phone, The official website is www.VITEMA.gov. Another good website for watching the progress of storms is www.wunderground.com.

September is the month the most destructive storms have hit the U.S. Virgin Islands and so it it a time of heighten alert. As a result, you are always making decisions on how many precautions to take.

Just before Tropical Storm Katie hit, I was in the process of putting a new roof on my home and I was also scheduled to leave for the mainland. My roofers managed to get the house under cover before her arrival and my flight took off into black ominous clouds that burst into torrential rains that evening. Prior to the storm, the conversation was that it was nothing to worry about. My pre-storm focus was to rush the contractor and pray it was mild. I didn't have much of a choice. There are people who provide the service of closing shutters. I had my home partially shuttered, covering the front of my home where there are large impact resistant glass doors. For us, Katie turned out to be high winds, a lot of rain over several days, some flooding and long electrical losses for some parts of the island others never lost service. She did a lot more damage on the mainland.

More recently,Tropical Storm Maria was on her way. It was not projected to be a hurricane, it was not organized but winds up to 75 miles an hour were anticipated. The roof is on but not caulked or painted on the inside. I urged the contractor to remove construction debris from the yard and I put up all of my shutters. filled the car, filled my diesel containers for the generator, stocked up on water, batteries and food. Maria took a jog to the North and resulted in a few gentle rains and some hazy days, much to our relief.

A lot of work? Yes. I would rather be prepared than caught un-prepared. The key is not to get complacent, which can be easy to do. I didn't live in the Virgin Islands when Marilyn hit but I understand it was not supposed to be much of a storm and it developed into a category 4 within hours, destroying many homes and lives. People who survived it are still traumatized when they think about any storm.

Always prepare fully for the worse, if it comes you will be ahead of the game. This time of year there always seems to be one brewing.

I have an aunt who will be 97 in a few days. She has lived a productive and wonderful life. She was a nurse for over fifty years and she taught other nurses. She is full of love and has always given of herself and done for others over the years. Although she married several time, her husband has passed on and she never had any children of her own. My sister and I are her only living relatives but she has many good friends.

As so often happens to the elderly, last winter she fell and broke her hip in the tub. She was sent for replacement surgery, on to rehabilitation and then into a nursing home. She did not bounce back from the surgery and will be wheel chair bound the rest of her life. Her mantra for many years was, "I don't want to be a rag doll tied to a wheel chair sitting in the corner of a nursing home". She was put on Halcyon and was hallucinating, which I questioned and was told, "it helps with her breathing". WHAT!!! I knew I had to do something.

I flew to NY in late January, something those of us who have moved to warm weather are loathed to do, and set to work. It took two trips and about two months away from home and my business, but I was able to get her affairs and home in order.

In early April, I was able to get her back into her home with a full time attendant to take care of her. She was very happy to be home. To the point she did not have anything negative to say about the changes I had to make in her home, which were huge. I was surprised as I was holding my breath for the tongue lashing I was sure I would get.

Living so far away from her and her medical situation constantly changing, it is a constant juggling act. She has been in and out of the hospital four times since returning home. During the latest episode, she asked to be taken to the hospital because of breathing difficulties. Once there she submitted to a few tests but decided she did not want to do a scan. The hospital felt, if she didn't want to cooperate with the recommended treatment then she needed to return home. The decision was made around 8 pm and even with the assistance of an ambulett service it was almost midnight before she and her attendant arrived home in the middle of the heat wave NY has been experiencing.

There is no air conditioning in her home. She never thought there was a need, and besides she felt the additional electric bill would be a burden on a retiree's pension. I did not have the foresight to think of the need, in the dead of the winter while I was doing the other major renovations and had full control.

I spent the following day trying to arrange for a hotel room for her and the attendant, their transportation there and arrangements for them to have room service while they were there. It may not seem like it would be that difficult to do but when you are some place else trying to make the arrangements, it is quite a feat. It took more than four hours by phone.

My aunt and her attendant settled into the room, a friend came by to check on them and things were going pretty well, she still did not feel well. After a few hours, it was determined she needed to be moved back to the hospital, with a promise not to refuse testing if they were deemed necessary by the doctors. Another jaunt for her friend and the attendant which did not end until 4 am the next morning when they determined she would be kept in the hospital for more tests.

At this juncture I am questioning the feasibility of keeping her at home. A friend has suggested her increasingly difficult personality may be early signs of dementia or Aleichem's, something I never would have thought about. She has always been a strong willed person and often did things contrary to conventional wisdom.

I am not sure what my next step will be but I will consider is carefully, keeping what I know she would want most in mind. I pray someone will take the time for me when it is my turn.

St. Thomas has a number of roads that are kind of tricky to drive with steep hills, narrow passages and pot holes. Combine that with a fair number of Iguanas, chickens, sheep, goats, cats, dogs, mongoose, and an occasional cow and there is, unfortunately, considerable road kill. Some drivers are fairly considerate and will, if they can, stop to allow animals safe passage across the roads. I can recall seeing a taxi full of tourist waiting for a hen with her chicks to cross a busy road.

The other day I left my home headed down town on a road that is not particularly rough. As I approached a straightaway I saw something in the road that initially appeared to be moving in a very awkward manner, almost as if it had been injured. I slowed to see what it was. I quickly realized it was not injured at all but a Red-Footed Tortoise making it's way across the road. It is a protected reptile under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), Which means it cannot be exported from it's home country without permits. I put my flashers on, stopped the car and got out. I knew if I simply drove around it, I would probably see it in the road crushed. So I picked up the tortoise and moved him to the other side of the road. I have seen these tortoises at people's homes, as pets and wild on Water Island, but this was the first time I had seen one wild on St. Thomas.

Surprisingly, he did not withdraw completely into his shell. He was quite beautiful with the distinctive shell and the red spots on his feet were quite pronounced.

As I returned home later I checked the road to see if he had continued on his way or turned back and not survived the return trip. I was pleased to see he was safe, at least for the day.

I have spent considerable time trying to accumulate points. This re-blog I found on Sharon Jones' Blog has enlightened me in some ways and I hope you will find it informative too:

Via Russel Ray, San Diego home inspections (Real estate, photography, marketing, music & more!):

1. 100 points for activating your real estate profile.
2. 100 points for adding your primary phone number. Apparently no points for alternate phone number and no points for fax number.
3. 215 points for short description in your profile. You're limited by the number of characters, so use them all.
4. At least 111 points for adding content to "about me" in your profile. Don't be afraid to delve way back into your history: "I was born in Kingsville, Texas. My first interest was music, and I was practicing piano, violin, and voice before I was 10."
5. At least 544 points for adding content to "certifications" in your profile. Be wordy. Don't abbreviate. If you have a Bachelor of Science in Forest Management from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, put that. Don't put "B.S., Texas A&M." If you have a long résumé, then you can abbreviate. But re-write or add if you don't have at least 544 points yet.
6. At least 169 points for adding content to "testimonials" in your profile. Be wordy. Don't abbreviate. If you have a testimonial from a Client named Viswanathan Anand (for all you chess fans), and you live in Truth-or-Consequences, New Mexico, put that. Don't put "Mr. Anand." If you have a billion testimonials, then you can abbreviate. But re-write or add if you don't have at least 169 points yet.
7. 50 points the first time you view someone else's points summary.
8. 750 points if you're a speed demon, i.e., if you write your first blog post within 48 hours of activating your profile.
9. 1,080 points for uploading a high definition photo to your profile.
10. 25 points for each blog comment you make, as long as it's 50 characters, up to a maximum of 10 per day. That's 1,750 points per week! That doesn't mean that you can't make more comments because when you do, those people will come by YOUR blog and leave comments, which provides you with:
11. 4 points for each comment from someone else in your blog. There is a twist here. The first two comments will get you no points. When that third comment shows up, you'll get 12 points, i.e., 4 points for each comment. There is also a maximum, but it seems to vary. Once you get that 20th comment, sometimes the 25th comment, you'll get no more points for comments to that blog post. This means that you have a chance to catch those ahead of you because even if they get a Featured Post with 200 comments, only the first 20 or 25 count for points.
12. 225 points for a blog entry if you complete Channels. Without Channels, it's 200 points. You can get an automatic 2,250 points by doing 10 blog posts per week. You are not limited to 10 blog posts per week. You are only limited to an automatic 225 points for each blog post up to 10 per week. You will also get comment points; see #12.
13. 100 points if your blog post is "featured."
14. 25 points if you re-blog someone else's blog post. There is a maximum of 10 reblogs per week, but that doesn't mean you can't re-blog more because if you reblog them, they just might find something of yours to reblog, and that gets you:
15. 25 points if someone re-blogs your blog post.
16. 250 points if someone accepts your invitation to join ActiveRain.
17. 10% of the points that your invitee earns. This is where you can get big-time points if you invite big-time people who Play in the Rain. There are some people here who don't actively participate anymore yet get 500-1,500 points per day because all the people they invited are still active.
18. 500 points for completing an ActiveRain success story.
19. 2,500 points each month if you join the Pay It Forward group and participate according to the group guidelines.
20. Bonus points. Awarded as deemed appropriate by the ActiveRain gods. For example, I got bonus points for being on ActiveRain Radio in May. Become involved in the ActiveRain community, help our community by helping others, by doing something special to help our community. The ActiveRain gods will notice and give you bonus points. If they don't notice, someone will point it out to them. I've seen as many as 15,000 bonus points awarded at one time.
21. Contest points. These can range from 200 points just for entering the contest to as many as 5,000 points for winning.
22. 0-10 points for commenting in your own blog. You'll have to figure this one out on your own. I have to hold something back!

Feel free to reblog this segment.